


tight knit boys

by SoccerSarah01



Category: One Piece
Genre: Brothers, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Rated teen for language, and ace deserves to be happy and know that he's loved, and if i can't hug him i'll make sure someone does, happy birthday rai! hope you like this!!!, listen i love these brothers so so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27762889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoccerSarah01/pseuds/SoccerSarah01
Summary: Ace thinks about his legacy, sometimes.How Ace has no choice in who he grows up to be. How it’s always been decided that he’s a sin. How he’s the son of the Pirate King, the Devil, and that’s all that matters about Ace.Ace is the son of the pirate king, and Ace is hated.Anything and everything bad about the world, people associate with him. Blame on him.Ace hates hateshatesit.(But he knows it’s true.)He lives as if he doesn’t know this, as if he has a place in this world, as if he’s not a blot on humanity. He runs with the wind, laughs with his brothers. He fights, laughs, loves.(Hehates.)But, sometimes, all he can think about is this cursed destiny of his.About how he was born to live and die a sin.-(Or: Ace is insecure and down on himself, but his brothers love him so, so much, and will never let him doubt how much they love him.)
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo, Portgas D. Ace & Sabo
Comments: 11
Kudos: 74





	tight knit boys

**Author's Note:**

  * For [railou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/railou/gifts).



Ace thinks about his legacy, sometimes.

How Ace has no choice in who he grows up to be. How it’s always been decided that he’s a sin. How he’s the son of the Pirate King, the Devil, and that’s all that matters about Ace.

Ace is the son of the pirate king, and Ace is hated.

Anything and everything bad about the world, people associate with him. Blame on him.

Ace hates hates _hates_ it.

(But he knows it’s true.)

He lives as if he doesn’t know this, as if he has a place in this world, as if he’s not a blot on humanity. He runs with the wind, laughs with his brothers. He fights, laughs, loves.

(He _hates_.)

But, sometimes, all he can think about is this cursed destiny of his.

About how he was born to live and die a sin.

“Ace is quiet today,” Luffy murmurs.

They’re all sitting in their treehouse, Luffy and Sabo both looking out the window. Sabo’s been pointing out the constellations to Luffy, Ace’s brothers speaking in soft voices to each other as the bright, speckled sky reflects off their wondrous eyes. Ace had been with them, earlier, but eventually the screaming in his mind ( _you’re a sin you’re a sin you’re a_ sin) had grown to be too much, and he’d withdrawn, sitting back against the wall, eyes closed and trying desperately to fight the screaming away.

Ace doesn’t open his eyes at his little brother’s words, but listens as someone shifts. Sabo hums, then, and Ace can imagine the considering frown his best friend probably has on his face. “Ace, are you being emo again?” Sabo calls over.

Ace rolls his eyes, opening them and glancing at his brothers before looking away.

“Shut up, Sabo.”

Luffy comes over and crouches in front of Ace, looking at him curiously. “Are you okay, Ace?” Luffy asks.

“I'm fine, just leave me alone,” Ace mumbles, glaring at the far wall.

“You don’t seem fine!”

“Luffy, leave me _alone_.”

“But-!”

“Luffy,” Sabo cuts in, softly. Ace glances over to see Sabo give Luffy a steady look, and he gives him a comforting pat on the head, ruffling Luffy’s short hair. “Can you go outside and leave me and Ace alone for a little while?”

Luffy opens his mouth in protest, before he glances over at Ace, who just now realizes that he's been staring at his brothers. He looks away, glaring at the floor, but doesn't miss the unreadable expression that flashes across his little brother's face.

“Okay,” Luffy says, quiet. He gives Ace one last, long look, barely visible in Ace’s peripherals, before disappearing down the hole to the ladder. Ace tries not to let the unreasonable feelings of abandonment sting.

Sabo waits until Luffy's all the way down before he comes over and plops down in front of Ace. “So, what're you thinking about?” Sabo asks, like he's asking about the weather.

Ace glances at Sabo before glaring at the floor again. “Nothing.”

“Sure doesn't seem like nothing to me,” Sabo says lightly.

Ace remains stubbornly silent.

“Hmm,” Sabo says consideringly. “Well, I guess it could be the fish prices. Those have been awfully high lately. Or the winter that's coming? That's gonna be a cold one. Or-”

Ace glares at Sabo. “Will you just shut up and leave me _alone_?”

“Not until you tell me what you're thinking about,” Sabo almost _sings_ , and Ace groans, closing his eyes and knocking the back of his head against the wall.

“I'm thinking about my bastard of a father, okay?” Ace finally bursts out. “And me! And us! Happy?!”

Sabo's teasing grin shifts into something more serious, and he says quietly, “Yeah, I figured it was something like that.” Sabo then narrows his eyes a little bit, seeing through Ace’s weakened walls. “What else?”

Ace groans, letting his head hang. Sabo won't leave him alone until he tells him.

Damn his brother's stubbornness, only rivaled by his own and Luffy’s.

“I was just thinking about how much people hate me, I guess,” Ace finally whispers. He's not normally this open, this honest about what's bothering him, but he's feeling raw and alone and hated and he just wants to _not_ be, just for a moment.

But that's not going to happen, and it _hurts_.

Sabo looks at Ace for a moment, and then sighs, taking a seat next to Ace. Shoulder to shoulder, warm and solid. “Ace,” Sabo begins, “You know who my parents are.”

Ace gives him a confused glare. “Of course I do,” he says.

“You know that I was born a noble.”

“Yeah.”

“You know that nobles are stuck-up, and cruel, and self-centered.”

“ _Duh_.”

“Yet,” Sabo's tone softens inexplicably, “You don't think the same of me, do you?”

“Wha-” Ace snaps his head over to Sabo, saying emphatically, “Of course I don't!”

A small smile spreads across Sabo's face, gratitude shining in his eyes. “Then,” he says, quiet, “Why do you do the same to yourself?”

Ace stops short for a second, mind going blank before he brings his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and resting his forehead on his kneecaps. “It's not the same,” Ace mumbles.

“How?”

“It's just _not_!” Ace jerks his head up, looking at Sabo, not even trying to hide the desperate anger painted across his face. “Everyone _hates_ me, Sabo! I'm the son of the Devil; everyone wishes I was dead; sinful blood flows through my veins; I don't deserve to-!”

Ace cuts himself off with a frustrated scream, burying his face back in his knees, gripping his legs tight enough to hurt.

“I'm a sin, Sabo,” Ace whispers into his knees, trying desperately to fight the useless, useless tears away. “That's all I'll ever be.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------

Ace clutches tightly at his knees, knuckles going white with strain, and something in Sabo's heart _clenches_ at the way Ace repeats, voice sounding painfully, painfully small, “That's all I'll ever be.”

Ace presents it as fact, as if Ace truly is nothing but a sin, is worthless, is hated, and that's the biggest load of bullshit Sabo's ever heard.

(Because-

How does Sabo explain how much Ace _means_ to them?

How does Sabo explain the way Luffy _lights up_ , whenever Ace is around? How does he explain how, no matter how much Sabo compliments Luffy, Ace's praise is what Luffy _craves_? How does he explain the sheer joy Luffy emanates when he's fighting, sparring, talking, just being around Ace?

How does he explain how lonely and lost Sabo was before he found Ace (or Ace found him)? How does he explain the exhilaration; the _excitement_ that floods Sabo's veins whenever Ace suggests a fight or Sabo suggests a heist and Ace gets that vicious smirk of his? How does he explain how _happy_ Ace makes him, just being with him and sparring and just talking, all day of every day?

How does he explain how much they _love_ him? How much they need him in their lives? _Want_ him in their lives?

How does he explain how much Ace is _loved_?)

Sabo's tried punching it out of him. He's tried harsh, frank words. He's tried what feels like everything to beat this insecurity out of Ace. Nothing has stuck.

Sabo feels raw and tired and angry and just for once, he thinks he'll match Ace's honesty with his own.

(It's what his brother deserves.)

“That's all you'll ever be, huh?” Sabo whispers, and Ace nods, as if it's _fact_ , confirming that Ace thinks there's nothing that gives Ace worth, and Sabo _hates_ that, so so much.

“You know, there are a lot of words I'd use to describe you,” Sabo says, tilting his head up at the ceiling, trying to keep his tone light through the burning anger simmering in his veins. “Asshole, hardheaded, dumbass, the list goes on and on- oh, and too fucking stubborn to ever run from a fight,” Sabo adds on.

Ace snorts, but his arms tighten minutely around his knees.

“But, you know what I also think of?” Sabo continues, tone softening and turning his gaze back onto Ace. “I think of the person who stopped me from feeling quite so lonely. The person who's saved my life time and time again-”

“Not like you haven't done the same for me,” Ace mumbles into his legs, and Sabo snorts.

“Yeah, that's true, but this isn't about me.” Seriousness threads through Sabo's tone again, and he shifts so that he's in front of Ace. He waits for Ace to take the hint and look up at him, but Ace doesn't, only wrapping his arms tighter around his knees and making himself smaller. So, Sabo sighs and grips Ace's shoulders, forcing him to look up at Sabo.

Ace doesn't meet his eyes. There's red blotchiness surrounding his own.

Ace has been _crying_.

“ _Ace_ ,” Sabo says forcefully, sincerely. “I think of my _brother_. I think of my rival, my first friend, my _best_ friend.”

Ace finally looks up to meet Sabo's eyes, his face set into an almost awed, disbelieving expression. “I think of _you_ ,” Sabo says firmly. “Not any bullshit about your not-father.”

Then, Sabo leans back against the wall, wraps an arm around Ace's shoulder, and pulls him against Sabo.

Ace freezes.

(They don't do hugs. Luffy – he loves hugs, craves them, assaults them with hugs every chance he gets. Ace and Sabo have both gotten used to having Luffy latch onto them, chattering and warm, but it hadn't spread to them hugging each other quite yet.

Until now.)

Sabo rests his head on top of Ace's, holding him close, and waits for Ace's stiffness and hesitance to fade away.

Finally, Ace sinks into him, head resting against Sabo’s shoulder.

He doesn't reciprocate, not really, but that's not the point of this. The point is making Ace realize how goddamn much Sabo loves him; how much he wants Ace in his life.

He knows this won't be enough to fully stave away Ace's self-hatred, but he hopes it's a start.

Ace curls slightly into Sabo, pressing his cheek against his shoulder. Sabo glances down at Ace, taking in the small, minuscule smile turning up Ace's lips.

There's still a hint of doubtfulness in the furrow of Ace's brows, though.

Ace just needs one more little push.

Sabo leans into Ace a little bit, before withdrawing, whispering that he'll be right back, and standing. He moves to the window, searching around a little bit before-

“Hey, Luffy, come up here!”

Luffy snaps his head up from where he’d been curled against a tree just outside the treehouse, and clambers over to the ladder. Sabo moves back to where he’d been and plops down right next to Ace again. “If my words weren't enough,” Sabo whispers, leaning back into his brother, “Luffy has some for you, too.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------

Ace looks up at Sabo, feeling utterly raw, and doesn't even want to know what sort of emotional, vulnerable expression is on his face right now. He tries to find some, any, words to say, but before he can, the sound of scampering up a ladder interrupts him.

Luffy clambers back up the ladder, frantic, as if it's been forever since he's been allowed up here. His eyes land on Ace, and he yells, “Ace!” before launching himself at him.

Ace grunts as Luffy rockets into him, and Luffy _clings_ to him, wrapping his arms around him multiple times.

It feels painfully warm, painfully loving, and Ace is feeling too raw, too vulnerable to treat this as if this is any other hug.

“Hey, Lu,” Ace says, softly, and wraps his arms back around his little brother.

Sabo lets out a small chuckle, and Ace looks up at him. Sabo asks, as if he already knows the answer, “Luffy, what do _you_ see when you see Ace?”

Luffy twists around from where he's clinging to Ace, giving Sabo a confused frown. “What do you mean? I see Ace!”

Luffy says Ace's name like it's the only thing that matters, like all that matters about Ace is that it's _him_ , and that-

 _“I think of_ you _, Ace.”_

Luffy, Sabo – they don’t even see anything _but_ Ace.

Sabo and Luffy, Ace's brothers, his best friends – they don't see that Ace is a sin.

They don't _care_ about any of that.

All they care about is _Ace_.

Sabo comes over, crouches in front of Ace and Luffy, who's still all wrapped around Ace. “We love _you_ , Ace,” Sabo says, firm and painfully fond. Ace swallows around the knot of emotion in his throat, blinks furiously to rid the burning from the backs of his eyes, and tries not to think about what sort of awed, emotional expression is painted all over his face right now. “You're _our_ brother, and that's all we care about.”

“Yeah!” Luffy pipes in, talking against Ace's chest, and tightens his grip on Ace.

Somehow, that small, insignificant, utterly _loving_ word is the last straw, for Ace.

Ace surges forward, wrapping an arm around Sabo and taking Luffy with him and pulling them into a tight, tight hug. He buries his face in Sabo's shoulder, breathes in Luffy's hair, and gives up on fighting the tears. Small, choked off sobs shake Ace's body, and he finally just lets it happen, lets himself _cry_ , wrapped up in his brothers.

Ace clings onto them for a long, long time, and they just hold him; Luffy’s small, but fiercely strong embrace and Sabo’s steady, solid hold.

(They _love_ him.

Him, a sin. Him, the son of the devil. Him, the boy who should have never been borne to the man who should never have existed.

 _Him_.

They love _him_.)

Ace holds onto them for just a little longer, tightening his grip slightly before letting go, leaning back.

He's met with the bright smile of Luffy and the cheeky, yet somehow soft grin of Sabo, and he almost starts crying again.

Sabo chuckles, sounding utterly fond and light, and says, “Look who's the crybaby now.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Ace grumbles, swiping at his eyes.

Snickering, Sabo leans back slightly, and Luffy laughs, saying, “Ace is back!”

Before Ace can stop himself, he reaches out and ruffles Luffy’s hair, a fond smile tugging at his lips. “I am,” Ace says, feeling utterly soft. Then, his smile gains a mischievous tint to it, and he snaps the other arm out, pulling Luffy in and giving him a fierce noogie.

Luffy shrieks, laughing uncontrollably as he’s trapped. “Ace, no, _stop_!” Ace digs in harder, grin widening before he lets go, laughing as Luffy falls back, hands on his head and pouting at Ace.

“Mean, Ace!”

Ace shrugs. “Hey, you said I was back, and I had to prove that.”

Sabo, who’s been standing to the side in Ace’s peripherals and snickering, lets out a full-blown laugh. “He got you there, Lu,” Sabo says amusedly, and Ace grins at his brother.

Ace feels happy, and light, and freer than he has in a long time.

The weight of his legacy isn’t quite gone, not yet, but Ace feels, for the first time, like it doesn’t matter at all.

Not in the face of his brothers’ happiness and love.

He doesn’t say thanks, not really, to them, but it doesn’t matter. From the smile on Sabo’s face that softens slightly when he looks at Ace; from the laughter from Luffy that seems even brighter and happier than before, Ace knows they heard him.

(They fall asleep that night, legs thrown together and hands twined with one another, smiles on all their faces.

Three tightly knit boys that love each other more than life itself.)

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday Rai, hope you enjoy this! This got _way_ out of control😂
> 
> Hope everyone else who sees this enjoys it as well! I love these brothers so so much, and I will absolutely show that at any opportunity.
> 
> (Also, the title comes from Always Gold by Radical Face - go give it a listen because it's _such_ an ASL song and it makes me cry every time.)


End file.
